779 : Juncture Loss

 

Dried orange peel on honeycomb board; 120h. x 240w. x 5d.

 

The word ‘orange’ derives from the proto-Dravidian nāram, entering Sanskrit as nagrungo (orange tree) and reaching European languages through the Persian nārang (نارنگ) and its Arabic derivative nāranj (نارنج), becoming naranja in Spanish. As the word entered old French as une norenge it suffered a juncture loss as the initial n was mistaken as part of an indefinite article ending in n, becoming une orange in modern French and orange in English. Its first recorded use as a colour name in English was in 1512. A notorious recent use of the colour was for the overalls used to clothe the prisoners from the west’s War on Terror at Guantanamo Bay where, since 2002, a total of 779 prisoners have been locked up without trial. Ironically, many of these people come from the part of the world in which the word orange originated. The atrocity at New York’s twin towers on 9th September 2001 can be seen as a critical juncture for the world. The west had an opportunity to respond to the events of 9/11 by demonstrating the rule or law, but instead chose revenge - another type of juncture loss.

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The work is made by pinning 770 segments of dried orange peel to a sheet of honeycomb board, with nine more dangling from one corner to represent the nine prisoners who died in custody. The use of pins references the way entomologists display their collections, and acts as a comment on the way the prisoners in their orange jump suits were displayed by their captors as de-humanised trophies. Underlying Individuality and humanity is expressed by the variation between each segment of peel.